Grafenwoehr race qualifies Army Europe 10-Miler team for national competition

Staff Sgt. Kirk Madgic, Vicenza, Italy, prepares to cross the finish line June 27at the Army Europe 10-Miler held in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Madgic was the first Soldier to finish with a time of 58 minutes, 46.81 seconds.

Capt. Stephanie Feagin, Vicenza, completes the last mile of the Army Europe 10-Miler held in Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 27. Feagin was the first female Soldier to finish the race with a time of 65 minutes, 21.17 seconds.

Kelis Secrest, Kaiserslautern, was the first individual to cross the finish line at the Army Europe 10-Miler in Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 27. Secrest ran the course in 57 minutes, 6.45 seconds.

Soldiers representing the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr carry the unit guidon as they charge the first hill during the Army Europe 10-Miler in Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 27.

Runners charge the first hill during the the Army Europe 10-Miler held in Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 27.

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GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - Three hundred and sixty feet hit the ground running June 27 at the U.S. Forces Europe Army 10-Miler Qualification race hosted by U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr.

Of the 180 competitors, the top six male and six female Soldiers earned spots on the team that will travel to the national competition held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 4.

Staff Sgt. Kirk Madgic, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, will lead the 12-Soldier team. Madgic, who traveled from Vicenza, Italy, to compete in the race, was the first Soldier to cross the finish line with a time of 58 minutes, 46.81 seconds.

For Feagin, who ran the course almost 10 minutes faster than the first female qualifier last year, the win was bittersweet.

"I love to run. I'm one of those psychos that just love it," she said. "I'm leaving the Army soon so I won't be able to go to D.C., but it just felt good today."

Eight alternates were also selected based on their times in Grafenwoehr, in the event a runner, like Feagin, is unable to attend the national race.

The Soldier-teammates will have more than three months to prepare for the national race, where an expected 30,000 runners will navigate a route that begins and ends at the Pentagon and passes national monuments such as the Smithsonian and the United States Capital building.

The Grafenwoehr course, according to Tony Lee, USAG Grafenwoehr Morale, Welfare and Recreation chief of recreation programming, was planned to prime the runner for the Washington, D.C. race.

"I've personally seen (the course) in D.C., and I think our course is tougher," he said. "The location is unique. It is no further than D.C., but there are a lot of crooks and turns... a lot more turns than normal. We try to mentally prepare (the runners) for the D.C. race."

Lee added that the Grafenwoehr staff is already looking into the route for next year.

"The plan is to relook at the course and try to find another one, one that is more conducive in terms of what we need for support," Lee said.

He added that any changes will not affect the level of challenge the route brings to the runner. "We have had a lot of good comments on the course, as far as the ups (inclines) and downs (declines) and how we finished the last mile (loop)."

The final mile of the course led runners on a loop around the Grafenwoehr Physical Fitness Center.

While, as a civilian, he did not qualify for the national 10-Miler in October, the first individual to finish the loop and pass in front of the crowd that gathered at the finish line was Kelis Secrest, Kaiserslautern, with a time of 57 minutes, 6.45 seconds.

More photos of the June 27 race can be found at the USAG Grafenwoehr flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/usaggrafenwoehr/sets.